Active Radar
Active radar homing is a missile guidance method in which a guided missile contains a radar transceiver and the electronics necessary for it to find and track its target autonomously. The tracking can be much accurate and also have better resistance to ECM compared to passive radar guidance. Active radar homing missiles have some of the best kill probabilities, along with missiles employing track-via-missile guidance. Battlefield 4 Active Radar is a vehicle specialization for Mobile Anti-Aircraft Artillery and Stealth Jets featured in Battlefield 4. It fulfills the role of a long-range target engagement weapon. The weapon is a dumb-fire fire-and-forget-type missile that automatically identifies, targets and guides itself towards the closest enemy aircraft it is fired at. Contrary to popular belief, the missile is not required to be fired and lead in front of the target for the missile to begin tracking. The missile will automatically track any aerial targets pointed at by the center mil dot prior to launch, regardless of difference between distance of the missile fired and the target. The Active Radar missile will be unable to guide itself if the target is either out of range, too close to the launch source or if the target is “Below Radar”. Unlike the Passive Radar missile or SA-18 IGLA, the fire-and-forget nature of the Active Radar allows the operator and launch vehicle time to tend to their surrounding environment to identify and counter any ground threat or other aerial threats, or to enter tactical advance or retreat across the battlefield. Tactics Unlike similar Anti-Aircraft missiles such as Passive Radar or Heat-seekers, the operator is not required to obtain and maintain a lock on the enemy aircraft prior to launch; The missile will automatically track the target immediately within range. This is often advantageous as the missile tracking time is so short that the pilot has at least 1-2 seconds to disperse countermeasures. However, since two missiles are insufficient to take down an aircraft effectively, follow-up shots with the main weapon is often required to finish the job, if in range. It functions similar to that of the STAFF Shell of Main Battle Tanks and the MBT LAW for the Engineer class kit. Active Radar missiles are defeatable or hindered by IR Flares and ECM Jammer when activated prior to launch or prior to missile tracking. Active Radar missiles will also fail to track any aircraft flying at very low altitude. The nature of this weapon helps prevent the launch vehicle from being identified since the white targeting indicator is not shown, especially if the attack relocates after a successful hit. In Stealth Jets, the Active Missiles help with engaging aircraft head on. The speed of both the missile, and the target, will drastically increase the chances of a hit, allowing the attacker to swerve out of the way as the target loses control momentarily, allowing a brief second attack to be lined up. Controversy Due to the operational nature of the missile and lack of prior warning of the missile's presence, many players are left disgruntled and feelings of resentment upon defeat at the hands of the Active Radar missile, with users of the missile and weapons of similar operational nature regularly shunned by the community. To balance this, the game developers introduced a game update (or “patch”) alongside the Battlefield 4: Community Operations update to provide additional balancing and modification. Damage Statistics & Effects The following is a list of effects and damage to specific air vehicles from impacts by the Passive Radar missiles. Damage results are consistent at any angle of impact. Damage results are gathered post-2015 Battlefield 4: Legacy Operations update and are subject to change without notice by game developers from time to time.Test Range Patch Notes The Battlefield 4: Community Operations patch has delivered slight characteristic and functional changes to the Active Radar missiles.Battlefield 4: Community Operations patch notes * Ammunition: Auto replenish increased to 30 seconds from 25 seconds. * Slight damage increased. * Maximum velocity increased * Enabled force spawn to camera for more accurate aiming * Enabled locking empty vehicles * Time to activate guiding system is now 0.5 seconds. Gallery BF4AAMissile1.png|Active Radar Missile being fired from a Mobile Anti-Aircraft system BF4AAMissile2.png|Active Radar Missile being fired and homing in on a UAV AAMissile4.png|Active Radar missile being fired from a Stealth Jet Trivia * All ground-launched anti-aircraft missile uses the model of the real-life North-American AIM-9X Sidewinder, regardless of vehicle faction, while all air-launched anti-aircraft missiles use the model of the real-life North American AIM-120 AMRAAM. References Category:Specializations of Battlefield 4